Philip Davies

Sir Philip Andrew Davies (born 5 January 1972) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shipley in West Yorkshire from 2005 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he voted against his party's parliamentary whip over 250 times, making him the most rebellious Conservative MP of his era. He was criticised for "talking out" parliamentary bills not supported by the government and by doing so "kill off legislation he doesn't like".

Philip Davies

Quotes

• Is it offensive to black up or not, particularly if you are impersonating a black person? PS I would be grateful if you could explain to me why it is so offensive to black up your face as I have never understood this.
• Do you believe that anti-discrimination laws should be extended to cover bald people (and perhaps fat people and short people) ... ?
  • Extracts from letters to Trevor Phillips, then Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, as reported in "Philip Davies MP bombarded watchdog in 'political correctness' campaign" The Guardian (18 December 2009)

• When I first got elected to Parliament my mentor was Eric Forth [the former Tory MP] and he really was the past master of talking out bills on a Friday. [...] He did it for fun and he was brilliant at it. After he died I vowed I would do the same kind of work.
  He taught me that lots of these have all got a worthy sentiment behind them but you can’t pass legislation on the whim of a worthy sentiment because it affects people’s lives and livelihoods. I agree with him. It is a very unsatisfactory way to pass legislation.
  • Oliver Wright "Philip Davies, the master of filibuster and friend to rogue landlords" The Independent on Sunday (14 December 2014).

• You can have civil partnerships and marriage for gay people. You can only have marriage for heterosexuals. It’s not equality.
• [supporters of same-sex marriage have] a strange view of equality which is that the groups that [they support] should have more equality than other people
  I always vote in favour of true equality. I don’t agree with gay marriage, why would I vote for something I don’t agree with?
  • Cited by Jon Stone "Legalising same-sex marriage discriminates against straight people, Tory MP Philip Davies claims" The Independent (2 November 2015)
  • Comments on the BBC's Daily Politics television programme

"Feminist zealots want women to have their cake and eat it, says Tory MP" (2016)

"Feminist zealots want women to have their cake and eat it, says Tory MP" The Guardian (12 August 2016). Comments delivered at the International Conference on Men’s Issues organised by the Justice for Men and Boys (and the Women Who Love Them) (J4MB) party event in July 2016.

• In this day and age the feminist zealots really do want women to have their cake and eat it. They fight for their version of equality on all the things that suit women – but are very quick to point out that women need special protections and treatment on other things.

• I don’t believe there’s an issue between men and women. The problem is being stirred up by those who can be described as militant feminists and the politically correct males who pander to this nonsense.
  It seems to me that this has led to an 'equality but only when it suits' agenda that applies to women. The drive for women to have so-called equality on all the things that suit the politically correct agenda but not other things that don’t is of increasing concern to me.
  For example, we hear plenty about increasing the numbers of women on company boards and female representation in parliament; however, there’s a deafening silence when it comes to increasing the number of men who have custody of their children or who have careers as midwives. In fact, generally there seems to be a deafening silence on all the benefits women have compared to men.

• Men and women are different, it’s a fact. [...] Yet this is not allowed to be a reason to prevent equality in the fields where men are better on the whole – for example, when it comes to jobs that require great strength. Ah no, that would be sexist. A woman must have equality and do whatever she wants, except, when it comes to wearing a prison uniform, obviously.

• Many women use their children as a stick to beat the father with, either because they’re bitter about the failed relationship, for financial reasons, or because they’ve moved on and it’s easier for them if their new partner takes on the role of father to their children.

Quotes about Davies

• Philip Davies basically is a sexist misogynist who puts his own ego ahead of his constituents. His anti-equality agenda in Westminster threatens the rights and freedoms not just of women but also people with disabilities, BAME (black, Asian, and minority ethnic) and LGBT+ communities. I think that Shipley deserves an MP who will prioritise representing them and the issues that are important to their constituency, rather than using parliament as a stage to play out attention-seeking performances.
  • Sophie Walker, then leader of the Women's Equality Party, cited by Ben Quinn "Women’s Equality party leader seeks backing for a clear run to beat 'misogynist' MP" The Observer (23 April 2017).
  • Ms Walker came fourth out of the four candidates who stood in Shipley at the 2017 United Kingdom general election.